If I Ever Leave This World Alive

Science fiction thriller “Prometheus” brought audiences back to the terrifying world of aliens and gave actress Charlize Theron her second consecutive blockbuster this summer after scoring with “Snow White and the Huntsman” the week prior. Previously helmed as a prequel to the “Alien” series, film creator Ridley Scott chose to portray this as a standalone film with some elements of the original 1979 “Alien” starring Sigourney Weaver. “Lost” writer Damon Lindelof was brought on to rewrite the script after it took several years for this story set nearly eighty years into the future to get off the ground. After a two year voyage in space, a ship named Prometheus arrives on a planet that is thought to be inhabited with aliens responsible for the birth of humans according to cave paintings found in various parts of the globe.

A team was developed with the help of a mysterious, ailing funder to find out if these aliens are alive and how exactly we are linked to them, but after the ship makes its landing it quickly becomes clear that these aliens are hostile toward humans. Noomi Rapace stars as Elizabeth Shaw, an archaeologist with strong beliefs in God and is desperate to find out if these aliens are truly the “engineers” she believes them to be. It was somewhat of a surprise to see “The O.C.” star Logan Marshall-Green cast in such a high profile role as Rapace’s love interest and partner. Theron plays Meredith Vickers, one of the funder’s employees sent to keep an eye on the crew and control the situation, but has her own agenda. The film tackles such issues as Faith and Science just as Lindelof’s ABC show did for six seasons. It was very interesting how Scott chose to develop the aliens in this film as they technically did not have to be replicas from his past films.

Theron was not the only familiar face on board the ship, as “X-Men: Origins” actor Michael Fassbender plays David, an android who acts as the ship’s butler and liaison to the project’s billionaire funder, ensuring that his dying wishes are granted. Fassbender gave perhaps the best performance of the film from his devious actions as a robot obeying his master to his immeasurable amount of knowledge; at one point he toyingly whispers “there is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing.” This movie certainly echoed the original, but lacked character development and actual horror with the exception of a few scenes; whereas the original “Alien” had a cast of five, this one has nearly twenty. Just as in the footsteps of Theron’s previous hit, “Prometheus” made over $50 million in its first weekend after premiering on June 8^th 2012. A sequel seems imminent as the door is left wide open at the end of the film with so many unanswered questions and possibilities to go from here.

All I Want For Christmas

With Hanukah upon us and Christmas just days away, “What Jason Watches” has compiled a list of the top five Christmas episodes of a television series.

A new kind of holiday was created, or rather two were combined, when “The Best Christmukah Ever” debuted as the holiday episode for “The O.C.” Although the first season of the hit drama was immensely popular, the show was cancelled by FOX after just four seasons due to bad storylines and a heavy ratings decline following the death of main cast member Marisa Cooper. In the pre-car crash world, this episode sees Seth Cohen having to choose between Summer Roberts and fan favorite Ana Stern. While Ana chooses to make Seth a personal comic book for Christmukah, Summer dresses up as Wonder Woman; wonder who he’s going to pick.

While there was a Christmas episode of “Friends” for each of the ten years it was broadcasted on NBC, “The One with the Holiday Armadillo” was by far the most ridiculous. After waiting too long to rent a Santa costume for his son Ben, Ross Gellar is forced to muster up a new mascot for the holiday season. Santa Claus maybe the one who gives children all the presents, but it’s the Holiday Armadillo who teaches them about Hanukah. At some point Joey Tribianni busts into the apartment as Superman, leading Phoebe to proclaim that she is attending “the Easer Bunny’s funeral.”

Gone but not forgotten teen drama “Popular” was “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy’s original take on the high school scene and no, it didn’t feature any musicals. The quirky show lasted only two seasons on the WB, but was able to create this hysterical and touching rendition of “A Christmas Carol” before its abrupt cancellation in 2001. You can’t help but root for anti-hero Nicole Julian, who transforms from villainous queen b to sad little girl after being visited by three ghosts. The episode, titled “Fall on your Knees,” featured the cast of the show playing parts in Nicole’s dream; bah humbug.

Not one to be outdone by “The O.C.,” long running sitcom “Seinfeld” created its own twist on the holiday season with “Festivus for the Rest of Us,” a holiday created by George Costanza’s father. This holiday episode titled “The Strike,” which aired on NBC in 1997, was said to celebrate the holiday season without any commercialism or religious aspects and with the help of a lone standing aluminum pole. While all this was happening, Kramer went on strike from his job at a bagel store for not letting him have time off for the holidays, which led to the chant “Festivus yes! Bagels no!”

Nothing says Christmas like the first ever holiday special of the long running animated comedy “The Simpsons” from 1989. After Marge is forced to spend all of the family’s Christmas money on a tattoo removal procedure for Bart, the Simpsons’ happiness seemed lost. With tons of commercialism undertones and annoying neighbors, the distraught Homer seems desperate at giving his family a proper Christmas. This is the episode that introduces the family’s dog, Santa’s Little Helper, and captures the innocence that is often forgotten during the holiday season.

What are you watching this holiday season?